One Step at a Time
by chloey24
Summary: Bella and Jacob were married for six years and have a daughter. One day out of the blue he decides to leave her. When she goes to meet her lawyer, she discovers that it’s her uncle’s best friend, whom she had a crush on when she was in high school.
1. Prologue: The Begining of the End

**A/N: All right guys, here's a new story for you. After the events that have happened to me in RL, this one was just begging to be written. I will be finishing Seducing a Prince, but I had to start on this one. This chapter is extremely short, but remember it is only the prologue. I'll try to get chapter 1 up tonight or tomorrow. I'll be working on these simoultaneously so bear with me as updates will be a bit erratic for a while. Seducing a Prince is drawing to a close and should wrap up in a few more chapters. I had intially planned a sequel, but I'm at a loss for how to proceed with it. So for now, after Seducing is finished I'll be focusing on OSAAT. I hope you enjoy!**

Prologue: The Beginning of the End

_Ring, ring, ring_

"Hello? Oh hey baby!" I said into the phone.

"Hey, Bells. You called?" Jake said sounding very down for some reason.

"Yeah, I just called to say 'Happy Birthday' and I love you. What time are you Vanessa supposed to be coming home tonight? I miss you guys," I told my husband.

"I don't know Bells. We may stay another night at Mom and Dad's and come back in the morning. You're not getting off work until late tonight anyway," he told me.

"Oh," I said disappointed. "Alright then. Jake, is something wrong? You sound upset," I told him.

"We'll talk about it when I get home, Bella. I just can't right now," Jake told me.

"Jake, just tell me what's going on. Did you get into a fight with your parents or something, baby?" I asked.

"No, Bella. If you want to do this now, then fine. I'm done, Isabella. I'm leaving you. I'll come drop Vanessa and the truck off, and then I'm moving back to mom and dad's. I'll get my things tonight. We'll there by ten," Jake said.

"What? But, Jake, I…I…I don't understand. Why are you leaving? I thought you loved us," I said to him.

He chuckled darkly and said, "Bella, this has been a long time coming. All we do is fight. You act like I'm not even there anymore. You never seem to be interested in making love, hell you've barely let me touch you twice in the last three months. I want out Bella. I can't do this anymore."

I could feel the sobs building up in my chest as he finished what he was saying and hung up on me abruptly. I felt like I was being rent in two. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think, I couldn't see. All I could do was feel the crushing pain of what Jake had told me. What he was planning had come out of the blue. Through my misery induced haze I grabbed my cell phone and called the one person that I knew would always be there for me.

"Mom," I managed to choke out through my sobs, "Mom please come over here. I need you. Jake…Jake just told me he's leaving me. Mommy, please I need you right now."

My mom arrived less than an hour later and stayed with me while my husband gathered as many clothes as he could and loaded them into his dad's pick-up truck. She and my little brother held me as I cried and tried their best to console me as I watched my husband kiss our daughter good-bye promising to see her the next weekend. My mom stayed and helped me to put my daughter to bed because I couldn't stop crying long enough to manage it. My little brother spent the entire week at my house listening while I cried myself to sleep. By the end of the week I had cried out all of my tears and began to make plans for what to do for my daughter and I. I realized I had to be strong for her; she didn't know what was going on, and she was scared. So, I slapped on a brave face and pushed myself to do what had to be done.

**A/N 2: Review, review, review! Look for chapter 1 to follow in the next couple of days!**


	2. Awakening from the Dark

**A/N: Alright guys here's Chapter one. It has jumped ahead two months. Bella and Jake have come to some agreements and she's going for her first meeting with the attorney. There's some important info in this chapter so just keep what you've read in your minds throughout because it will all be pertinent to later chapters. I hope you enjoy this. My favorite part is the flashback of Bella's sixteenth birthday. I actually had a similar experience with one of my uncle's friends. I was crazy attracted to him while my friends were hot for my uncle and his other friend. Also the boyfriend/girlfriend with Bella and Edward is something we did with my uncle's friends and will be explained in another chapter. Thanks for all the great reviews on the prologue. It meant the world to me because that was almost verbatim what my now ex-husband said to me the weekend of Father's Day and his birthday when he left me. Without further ado I give you Chapter 1!**

Chapter 1: Awakening from the Dark

I took a deep breath, opened the door of my Dodge Durango, and climbed out into the sweltering heat. I squared my shoulders and headed inside to the law firm. Today was my first appointment with the divorce attorney I had contacted just three days ago. I had made a vow to myself at the end of that first week that I would be strong for Vanessa, and damn it I was going to do it. I felt that the best course of action was to try to keep things as civil as possible between Jake and I. Vanessa didn't need to be dragged into the middle of our screw ups. She was the innocent in all of this. With that in mind I forced myself to have a lengthy conversation with Jake about what we both wanted to do in this dissolution of our marriage. I sighed thinking back to the awkward conversation we had over lunch at McDonald's exactly a week after Jake had left.

_Flashback_

_Jake and I had agreed to meet at McDonald's in Port Angeles. It was exactly an hour from our home in Seattle and an hour from Jake's parents' house in La Push. Vanessa and I arrived a little after noon and Jake arrived about fifteen minutes later. As soon as Vanessa saw him she raced into his arms. I sat watching wistfully as they embraced for several long minutes. When Jake and I had ordered food for all of to eat we sat down together and began our discussion. _

"_Okay," I said to Jake, "I'd like to keep this as civil as possible between us. I think that normal joint custody is our best bet. Since it's summer we can alternate weeks. Once Vanessa starts kindergarten in August we will go to the every other weekend deal. If you want her more than every other weekend you are welcome to let me know and she can go to you. We'll meet here in P.A. for the switch each time we swap her out. I also think that three hundred dollars a month is more than sufficient for child support. I don't want alimony from you so no worries there. I just want this to be done and over with."_

_Jake nodded his head and said, "Okay Bells. That sounds like a plan to me. Have the papers drawn up and I will sign them. We can start our every other week visits next Sunday. I'll pick her up from you here and bring her back to you here the following Sunday."_

_Once we finished discussing the details we wanted laid out for the paperwork he rose to leave. I stopped him and said, "Just tell me why Jake. Please?"_

_He looked at me coldly and said, "You're a smart girl Bells, figure it out yourself. You'll know soon enough anyway._

I jumped as the elevator dinged letting me know I arrived at the floor my attorney's office was on and pulling me out of my memories. I clutched the envelope in my hand so tight my knuckles were white. Jake hadn't been lying when he said I'd find out soon. When I got home from that meeting at McDonald's I hacked into his Myspace account. I found e-mails between him and some girl named Leah Clearwater from the reservation that indicated an affair had been going on for a while. I also found pictures on her Myspace account that I had printed out each of them clearly dated while we were still married. All of those sudden trips to La Push took on a whole new meaning then. I was furious at Jake, but determined to make this as painless as possible for Vanessa.

I paused at the door to the law firm's suite and read the name on the plaque: Masen and Associates. Masen, Masen, now why did that sound familiar? I shrugged it off and entered the building. Rosalie, my best friend since I was in diapers, had recommended them to me. She had used them when she divorced her abusive husband, Royce King, three years ago. I walked up to the reception desk and waited patiently for the receptionist to finish her phone call. When she looked up I was shocked.

"Angela Webber?!" I exclaimed.

"Bella Black! Holy hell girl what are you doing here?" Angela asked me.

Angela and I had been pretty good friends back in high school but had lost touch after Jake and I married and moved to Seattle.

"Well," I said while I blushed, "I have an 11:00 appointment with Mr. Masen. Jake and I are getting a divorce."

"Oh, Bella, I'm sorry to hear that. I really thought you two would make it for the long haul," Angela told me. "Let me get you the forms to fill out and I'll let Mr. Masen know you're here."

I thanked her as she handed me a clipboard with two forms attached. The first was the initial petition to file for divorce. I filled it out quickly only pausing when it came time to list the reason. I growled softly to myself as I check off the little box next to the word adultery. I had just finished filling out the assets form when Angela told me that Mr. Masen was ready for me.

I stood up and took a deep breathe squaring my shoulders once again. I strode purposefully to his office behind Angela with my head held high the entire time. Once we reached his office she knocked and a familiar sounding voice called out a brief, "Come in!"

"Mr. Masen, Isabella Black, your 11:00," Angela announced.

When the man behind the desk looked up and met my eyes, I took in a sharp gasp of breath. I was going to fucking kill Rosalie for not warning me who 'Mr. Masen' was, because sitting there in front of me looking exactly as he did the last time I had seen him ten years ago, was none other than my uncle Emmet's best friend, Edward fucking Masen.

"Well, well, well. Little Izzy. I can't believe that it's actually you," Edward said as he rose from his desk.

"In the flesh, boyfriend," I said teasingly, "I can't believe no one told me you were a divorce lawyer, Edward."

We briefly embraced each other before taking our seats. Once we were seated Edward asked me to give him the run down of what I was looking for. I talked and he made notes. When he was done he looked up at me and for just a minute I thought I saw anger in his eyes. As soon as I saw it, though, it disappeared and he smiled that damn crooked grin of his that always made swoon when I was a sixteen year old girl.

"So, girlfriend, I'm sorry about your impending divorce, but you're in good hands with me. Now that business is out of the way how about we move onto the pleasure part of the day? Me, Jazz, and Emmett are getting together tonight, how about you meet us at the bar, Eclipse?" He asked.

"Sure, Vanessa is with Jake for the week so I have nothing to do tonight anyways. Can I bring some friends who I know are just dying to see my uncle?" I asked.

He laughed and told me to bring Alice and Rose as it would make Jazz and Uncle Emmett's day. We agreed to meet at 9:30 that night at the entrance to the club and I bid him farewell.

As I climbed back into my car and headed back to my house I couldn't help to remember the day I had met Edward Masen.

_Flashback_

_It was my sixteenth birthday today and my parent's had planned a party for me at my favorite restaurant in Seattle. My dad's brother, my uncle, Emmett, had come into town and he and his two friends were planning on joining us for once. After dinner Alice, Rose, and I were going to a new teen club that had opened in Seattle the week before. Dinner was scheduled for 4:00 so Alice and Rose came over at noon so we could start getting ready. Though I was more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, I had allowed Alice and Rose to choose my outfit for the night and make me over because it was a special day._

_We were all ready to go by 1:00 because it was a three hour drive to Seattle from Forks, where I grew up. Rose and I had been best friends since we were born practically because our parents were best friends. Alice had moved to Forks when we were in fourth grade and we had been inseparable ever since. We made for a decisively diverse group: Rose was a tall leggy blonde who exuded confidence, Alice was short with short brown hair and reminded me of a pixie, then there was me. I was just your average plain Jane. Long brown hair, brown eyes, and an average figure. I knew I was attractive to an extent, but I was still just average compared to them._

_"So, Izzy, are you ready for the best sweet sixteen ever?" Alice squealed, while bouncing up and down in her seat._

_I laughed at her exuberance, "Yes, Alicat, I am more than ready for this wonderful night. I'm excited to see Uncle Emmett. I haven't seen him in two years. He has to move around way too much for work."_

_Rose smiled and said, "Yes, Iz, I'm glad to see him again too. It's been much too long since he decided to grace us with his hotness."_

_Alice and I laughed. Rose had always had a crush on Emmett. Not that I could blame her. My dad's brother was ten years older than us and actually incredibly handsome. He was about 6'2 with curly brown hair, sparkly brown eyes, and dimples the size of craters in his cheeks. He was also extremely muscular, which helped in his line of work. He was a SWAT member and travelled all over the country when he was called upon. _

_We arrived at the restaurant about fifteen minutes early and my parents let the hostess know we had reservations. She brought us to a large table in the back. A few minutes later people started flowing in: my grandparents, my cousins and aunts and uncles, Rose's parents and finally, Uncle Emmett. I jumped up and ran to him when I saw him come up to the table. I never saw the other two men with him until one of them cleared their throat. I pulled out of my uncle's embrace and looked up to be met with the greenest pair of eyes I had ever seen. I felt my cheeks heat up and Emmett tossed his arm over my shoulder._

"_Bells, Rosie, Ali, I want you to meet my best buds. This here is Edward and this one is Jasper," Emmett told us. Jasper was a tall blonde man who was very nice looking, but had nothing on Edward. Edward was the owner of those beautiful green eyes. He was tall and well built with hair a shocking bronze color._

_I smiled timidly and reached out to shake their hands. When I grasped Edward's hand to shake it a shock coursed through me and I gasped. I pulled my hand away and blushed while mumbling a nice to meet you. He grinned at me and pulled out my chair for me to sit down again, then took the seat next to me. Emmett ended up next to Rose and Jasper ended up next to Alice. Dinner was great and I was able to relax and carry on a conversation with Edward and Jasper despite how attractive I found Edward to be._

I smiled to myself as I pulled up to my driveway and went inside. I couldn't wait to call Alice and Rose and let them know that our boys were back in town. For the first time in two months I finally felt like I was awakening from the dark.

**A/N 2: You know what do guys, push the button and give your thoughts. If you're a bit confused, don't worry all will be explained...eventually!**


	3. Bring me to Life

**A/N: Okay, I just want to clarify one thing before I go any further in this story. It will all be Bella's POV. It is her story. It's about how she copes with her divorce and subsequently reconnecting with herself after it. I may do an EPOV as a bonus from time to time, I'll let you know. I may even post a couple of them separately from this, but they won't be in this story. I know it's a change because I normally alternate POVs, but it is necessary in this story to not have EPOV taking away from BPOV. Sorry this is a little later than I had orginally planned. I recently got myself some betas! I want to give a special thanks to MrsKatyCullen and Ninmesarra for their awesome Beta skills.**

Chapter 2: Bring Me to Life

As soon as I entered my house I made my way to my phone. I picked it up and dialed Rose's cell number. It rang about four or five times before I heard her breathless voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bitch! Why the hell didn't you tell me that Masen and Assoc. is _Edward Masen's_ law firm? I would have had time to pump myself up if I had known! I was shocked when I realized it was him," I screeched in lieu of a greeting.

She busted out laughing, "Oh my god! Bella! I am so sorry. I didn't even think about it. I wish I could have been there to see the look on your face though. I remember that huge crush you had on him when we were in high school. You used to get such a thrill out of calling him boyfriend and him calling you girlfriend. It was so sweet."

"Yeah I know. I actually called him that today. He must still remember because he called me girlfriend. He also invited me, you, and Ali to Eclipse tonight. Apparently the boys are back in town," I told her.

"OH MY GOD! What time? I have to go shopping for a new outfit. Oh, I can't wait to see Emmett. What if he doesn't remember me? Bella, meet me at the mall in twenty. We're getting you glammed out tonight too. You're gonna rock Edward Masen's world tonight," Rose practically screamed in my ear.

I couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, sweetie, I'll meet you at the mall. Call Ali for me and let her know the plan? I need to shower so give me about an hour instead of twenty minutes? We'll be meeting them at 9:30. I'm sure Emmett remembers you. Go easy on the glam, and I am in no way rocking his world tonight. It's just drinks between friends. Got it?"

"Yeah, whatever you say Izzy. Whatever you say." Then she hung up.

I sighed and shook my head while I headed to the shower. I know it had been six months since Jake and I had split up, but I wasn't really ready for the whole relationship thing yet. However, when I was…Edward Masen wouldn't know what hit him.

I showered quickly and threw on jeans, a t-shirt, and my sneakers before heading out to my truck and making my way to the mall. Once I arrived, I headed to our usual meeting place in the food court. I had been there for about ten minutes when I spotted Ali and Rose walking in. They met me at the table and we decided to grab a bite to eat before we started shopping. We agreed on pizza and ordered a large pie. Once it was ready and we were happily chowing down, Alice decided to start talking.

"So, I'm so excited. I can't wait to see Em again. I've missed him while he's been gone. Jasper, too. As soon as Rose told me I couldn't help but think of that carnival we all went to. The one where we ran into them and they saved us from Newton and his friends?" Alice said.

"Oh my god. I know. I was never so happy to see anyone as I was when we bumped into them as we ran away from Newton," Rose agreed.

"Tell me about it. I still remember the look on Newton's face when he met my 'boyfriend.' It was the most fun I've ever had at a carnival," I agreed.

_Flashback_

_There was a massive carnival coming to Port Angeles this week. Rose and Alice had talked me into going with them on family night. They sold ride bracelets for fifteen dollars those nights and admission was free. I had tried to beg out because I had a massive paper due for English the following week, but my girls pouted and whined until I agreed to go. They promised me that I wouldn't regret it. They said it would be fun. Then, they played Bella Barbie. Damn them. No jeans and t-shirt for the carnival, oh no. They forced me into a skirt and halter top. At least they let me wear flats._

_We had been at the carnival for about an hour and were standing in line for cotton candy and carnival dogs when we spotted Mike Newton, Tyler Crowley, and Eric Yorkie heading straight for us. Those three had been practically stalking us ever since freshman year. I nudged Rose and she tapped Alice's shoulder while gesturing with her head. We exchanged a look and just before they would have reached us Rose yelled, "RUN!"_

_We took off like lightening glancing over our shoulders every so often. The three stooges were looking on in astonishment. The look on their faces was so funny that I started laughing and didn't look where I was going. I ran smack into a large warm body and started falling backwards. _

"_Shit!" I yelled fully expecting to be meeting the hard ground. Instead, I felt arms snake around me and pull tight to them. I heard a velvety chuckle and looked up straight into the twinkling bright green eyes of Edward Masen. I closed my eyes and prayed for the ground to open up and swallow me whole to save me from this embarrassment. Edward helped steady me on my feet and I heard Rose, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper laughing at me._

"_Damn, little Izzy, you sure do pack a punch when you run into someone," Edward said._

_I smiled sheepishly and said, "Yeah, sorry about that. We were trying to escape the three stooges and they were so comical when they realized we were running from them that I forgot to look where I was going."_

"_Three stooges?"_

"_Newton, Crowley, and Yorkie. They've practically been stalking us since our freshman year. Oh, no! Here they come," I groaned along with Alice and Rose._

_Edward, Emmett, and Jasper exchanged funny looks. Then Em grabbed Rose, Jasper grabbed Alice, and Edward grabbed me. They wrapped their arms around us and pulled us to them tightly. I sighed happily._

"_Don't worry, love. Just play along. We'll get them off your backs," Edward whispered in my ear causing me to shiver._

_He buried his nose in my neck and I could feel his warm breath on it. I sighed and leaned into his embrace even more. I was so light headed from the feeling that I barely heard Newton's question when he reached us._

"_Bella, Baby, why did you run from me? You know you girls want us. So why are you playing hard to get?"_

_Edward growled and raised his head to glare at Newton._

"_Who the fuck are you and why the hell are you chasing my girlfriend?" he asked._

"_G..G..Girlfriend?" Newton stuttered, "I didn't know she was your girlfriend, man."_

"_Yeah, well she is, so why don't you and your little douche friends run along? She has a real man and there is no way she'd ever be interested in a little boy like you. Right, love?" He asked he pressed a kiss to my neck._

_I could barely breathe, but I managed to force out a meek, "That's right, honey."_

_Newton scowled and turned his heel stalking off muttering to Crowley and Yorkie._

_Once they were gone we all cracked up laughing and spent the rest of the day hanging out together. Every time Edward addressed me that day he called me girlfriend and insisted I call him boyfriend. It made my heart speed a little each time he did it._

"Bella? Bella? Isabella Marie Swan!"

Alice's voice pulled me out of my memory and I jumped with a start.

"Sorry Ali. Got lost in my memories there for a minute. What did you say?" I asked her.

She smiled knowingly and said, "We're heading out to go get outfits now. Come on."

We headed out in the general direction of Rave, Alice's favorite store. Once we reached it she pulled me in and began tossing clothes at me. I tried all of them on and in the end, I decided on the zebra print shirt with pink trim and a pair of dark black skin tight jeans with the kitten heel boots and a black leather jacket. When I walked out of the dressing room Alice and Rose nodded in approval. I changed back into my clothes and we paid for our purchases. We decided to get ready at my house and take a cab to the bar so we could all have a few drinks tonight.

After we were all dressed, Alice and Rose started on my hair and make up. Rose curled my hair so that it hung in bouncy curls down my back and Alice gave me a smoky eye and red lips. When they were done, I had to admit I looked pretty damn amazing. Once we were all ready we climbed into the waiting cab and headed over to Eclipse.

We pulled up and I spotted Edward standing at the entrance talking to Emmett and Jasper. Neither of them had changed in the last ten years. We climbed out of the cab and made our way to the guys. None of them heard us approaching and I smiled as I launched myself at Emmett's massive frame. He turned just before I would have landed on his back and caught me into a tight hug.

"Bells, you should know by now, never try to sneak up on the SWAT team. We're trained for this shit," he said while smirking at me.

"Well, damn. I had hoped I could get you just this once. You remember Alice and Rose right?" I asked.

Emmett didn't answer. He just stood there with his eyes glazed over as he looked at Rose. I rolled my eyes and slapped the back of his head.

"Ow! Damn it! What was that for? Yeah I remember. Ladies, you have certainly grown up since I saw you last. You must be beating the men off with a stick," he said.

Rose smiled at him and his eyes glazed over again.

She laughed and said, "Come on big boy. Buy me a drink and you can help keep all those little boys from pestering me tonight."

Alice had sidled up to Jasper and he had his arm draped over her shoulders already. I rolled my eyes and grinned at Edward. He smiled back and I took a minute to check him out. He had looked amazing in his suit earlier today, but nothing compared to what he was wearing now. He had on snug fitting black jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. I noticed he wasn't wearing a wedding band which made me happy for some inane reason.

"So, girlfriend, you ready to get this party started?" he asked.

I smiled and said, "Absolutely, boyfriend."

He pulled me to him and slung his arm over my shoulder.

"You know," he whispered in my ear, "you look fucking amazing in that outfit. I'm not going to be able to let you out of my sight all night."

I shivered and smiled at him while I said, "Well then, you'll have to make sure stick close by me tonight. Protect me from those idiots in there."

He grinned and we entered the club. I could have sworn I heard him mutter something about needing to make sure he didn't jump me before the night was over. My face heated at the thought and I thought this is going to be a long night.

**A/N 2: So next chapter we have their fun times at the bar. It will be at least a week due to the beta process and all. So bear with me and I'll get it to you soon. Hit that button and let me know what you think!**


	4. Author's note

**Contests:**

**Hey guys! I've recently entered two contests: The secrets and Lies contest and the Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy contest. Check out the submissions. They are Waiting for Edward and Strawberry Wine. I'm currently working on the next chapter of OSAAT, it should be ready by Monday, assuming I manage to get it to my beta by Saturday. Sorry for the wait, but I want to make it the best as it's super important.**

**Thanks,**

**Chloey**


	5. I Hate my Life

**A/N: Alright guys, here's the bar scene! I had a lot of fun writing this one. I hope you all enjoy it. Special thanks to my wonderful beta MsKatyCullen, for her quick beta skills! You are the greatest! Enjoy!**

Chapter 3: I Hate My Life

We entered the bar in a line of what could appear to be couples. Rose and Emmett were in the lead, followed by Alice and Jasper, and then Edward and me. Each of the guys had their arm slung around one of our shoulders, and it reminded me of old times. We found a booth that was a large circle and was tucked away into an alcove where we'd be hidden from the majority of the crowd. Edward and I slid in on the left side and moved over to the middle, Alice and Jasper settled in on Edward's side and Rose and Emmett settled in on my side. We decided to order up a large bucket or two of hot wings, a pitcher of beer, a bottle of Patron, and six shot glasses. The tequila and shot glasses were Ali's idea and she had a very evil glint in her eyes. I was kinda scared to be honest.

The waitress came over swaying her hips seductively as she let her eyes roam over our boys. Rose, Alice, and I glared at her as she blatantly eye fucked them. The nerve. Even though we weren't really couples she didn't know that and it was just plain rude. She smiled in what I'm sure she thought was a sexy way, but it actually made her look like a demented clown when coupled with all the make up on her face.

"What can I get for you fellas tonight?" she purred.

I think I threw up in my mouth a little there.

"We'll take two buckets of hot wings, extra dipping sauce, a pitcher of beer with six glasses, and a bottle of Patron with six shot glasses," Emmett said while barely glancing in her direction.

She turned to Edward and thrust her chest out a little bit more. She was in serious danger of her massive fake boobs falling out when she said, "And can I get you _anything_, sir, _anything_ at all?"

Her double entendre was well picked up on, but Edward simply shook his head while staring into my eyes. Just as he had saved me all those years ago, it was my time to return the favor. I leaned in close to his ear and let my breath wash over him. To my surprised delight he shivered.

"Just go with the flow, Eddie. I'll save you from slutzilla," I whispered as I let my lips brush over his ear.

He wrapped his arm around me tightly and I snuggled down deeper into his side pressing my lips to his neck. I glanced at the waitress out of the corner of my eye and she was giving me death rays. I smiled when I let my tongue sweep out and touch Edward's neck briefly. He let out the sexiest moan I'd ever heard, and I watched the waitress stamp her foot and stalk off. When I heard a round of applause, I finally pulled back from Edward. I noticed his breathing was slightly accelerated and grinned to myself. Alice and Rose were applauding me, and Emmett and Jasper were sitting their slack jawed and wide eyed.

I grinned at them and said, "What? I was just repaying a debt. Now we're even right, boyfriend?"

Edward shook his head with a start and stammered out, "Uh..Uh..Yeah sure, Izzy. We're definitely even. As a matter of fact, you get to protect me from sluts like her for the rest of the night."

Emmett threw his head back and laughed and said, "Geeze, Izzy! If you weren't my niece and he wasn't like a damn brother to me, I may have found that incredibly hot!"

Jasper nodded his agreement and then said, "Well considering you're not related to me I can honestly say I may have started sporting a little wood there Izzy!"

I laughed when I heard Edward growl, "Settle down there. Thanks guys. But one more thing, no more Izzy. I'm Bella now. When I started college Izzy just seemed so little girl that I decided to use Bella. It's much more grown up."

"Well you certainly have grown up, _Bella,_ but you'll always be my little Izzy," Emmett said.

"Thanks, Uncle Em. I have missed you so much," I replied.

The waitress brought our food a few minutes later and we all fell into an easy conversation about our lives over the last ten years. Rose, Alice, and I had gone to college together and lived together for a little while, until I met Jake. Emmett, Edward and Jasper shared an apartment here in Seattle when Emmett was in town. Jasper worked at the hospital as a psychiatrist, and we all knew Edward was a divorce attorney. I was curious as to what made him choose that particular line so I asked him.

"Well, I got married about eight years ago to this girl named Tanya. I was still in law school when we met. She was a clerk at the office I was interning at. She seemed sweet enough at first. She was a little thing with blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. We dated for a few months and I proposed one night when I was completely drunk. Before I knew it, we were married. It was fine for the first six months, but then she went crazy. She swore up and down that I was cheating on her, so she started rifling through my clothes all the time, checking my call and text logs, she even went so far as to put a tap on the house phone. One night I had a study group at the library for this massive test we had coming up in my Constitutional Law class. I told her I'd be gone for a while to study. She seemed fine with it, but I hadn't even been there for thirty minutes when she came tearing into the library and started pummeling on Jane. Poor Jane was engaged to Felix, a really good friend of mine in law school and she was terrified. I managed to pry Tanya off of her and we called the cops. She was screaming the whole time that I was screwing Jane. Luckily, I had witnesses because she tried to tell the cops I had hit her. I was so furious I left her in jail and went home. I called Em and Jazz to come help me pack my shit and was gone before she got back the next day. The divorce went through quickly and I got a restraining order on Tanya. My lawyer was able to keep her from getting anything, and I knew then that I wanted to help people who were in a similar situation to mine," Edward said.

"Holy shit, Edward! You make my problems sound like a cakewalk compared to that!" I said, "At least all Jake did was cheat on me."

"It still is wrong, Bella. No one deserves that," Edward said.

"Well I agree, but we just weren't meant to be. We got married way too young for all the wrong reasons," I said.

"Why the hell did you marry him anyway Bella? I know you parents didn't want you to marry him at all. Where did you even find him?" Emmett asked.

"God this is a long story. Okay, well Alice, Rose, and I all worked at this little sports bar near campus, Howlin? We were pretty good friends with the bartenders and I had a massive crush on this one guy, Sam. He had a pretty little girlfriend name Emily, though so it was a no go. One night I was just finishing up calling last call when Jake walked in. He introduced himself as Sam's cousin. We struck up an easy conversation and talked for about two hours until the owner kicked us out. He started coming back every night and eventually I agreed to go out with him. We had been dating for about a month when we got completely wasted one night and ended up sleeping together. A month later, I found out I was pregnant with Vanessa. Jake declared he was going to marry me and make me 'an honest woman.' We went and told our parents and in less than two months, we were married. It was fine for the first couple of years, but eventually we started fighting. We had been married for three years when I kicked him out the first time. He stayed away for a week and then begged me to let him come home. I agreed, and things started to get better. Right around the time, I graduated college he started to become really distant. The only time he wanted to be around me was when he wanted sex. I confronted him, and he claimed he was just stressed from work. I told him I wanted another baby so we agreed to try. I had gotten pregnant with Vanessa so quickly I thought it would be a cakewalk. When we still hadn't conceived a year and half later I was distraught. I guess I slowly started pulling away from him. We started fighting again, and it just got worse. We'd be fine for weeks, and then something I said would piss him off. It would start all over again. Everyone told me to leave him, but I was scared and I did love him. It all culminated the last time he headed down to La Push. That's when he left and when I found out he was cheating on me. It hurt, but not as bad it should have. I guess the way I reacted was how I thought I should. Now, I'm actually pretty happy he's gone. It's peaceful and I can find myself again," I said.

"Wow, Bella. I can't believe you finally admitted that you married him because you were pregnant. I've been trying to get you to pony up to that one since you announced your engagement to him," Rose said.

I shrugged and said, "I've had a lot of time to think over my reasons lately. I think it was just that I was afraid to be a single mom at such a young age. He even accused me of being the reason he was cheating. He said that I didn't want anything to do with him sexually anymore. He implied that because of my lowered libido, he had to find it elsewhere."

"Well, not to sound like an ass, Bells, but were you not interested in having sex with Jake?" Emmett asked bluntly.

"Well," I blushed, "to an extent I wasn't. I was so frustrated from my lack of being able to conceive, that my sex drive took a nosedive. Also, and this is so humiliating, but sex with Jake was just so vanilla. I could predict when he'd want to switch positions, when wanted it, and he came way too fast. It was all about him getting his. Never me getting mine."

"So wait, when was the last time you had you the big 'O'?" Rose asked.

"ROSE! Oh my god, I can't believe you just asked me that," I said blushing even more now.

"Well, Bells, it's a valid question. I mean that may very well be the reason you lost interest in sex with Jake," Emmett said.

"Uncle Em! Please stop discussing my lack of the big 'O' fuck you very much. It's been awhile. We'll just leave it at that," I said.

I heard Edward chuckle next to me and prayed again for that big pit to open up and swallow me down. I finally managed to get the conversation onto a new topic. We chatter inanely as we drank our beers, and suddenly I heard our song. Mine and the girls'. We looked at each other and nodded with giant grins on our faces.

"Let's go girls! We gotta dance to this shit," Rose said.

We made our way to the dance floor to the sounds of Katy Perry's 'I Kissed a Girl'. Once we reached the dance floor, we started grinding with each other. Rose whispered to me that we were going to give the boys a show and Alice and I agreed quickly. Suddenly she spun me around and planted one on me. I glanced at our table to see three men subtly trying to adjust themselves and went with it. I spun and kissed Alice, and then she and Rose took a turn. Once the son was over, we made our way back to our table.

"Did you boys enjoy the show?" Alice asked. "You may want to close your mouths or you're liable to catch flies."

We laughed and then Alice got a devious grin on her face again. Shit. I knew that look and suddenly the shot glasses made perfect sense.

"No, Alice, absolutely fucking no way! I'm not going to play. Not in a very crowded, public bar!" I exclaimed.

"Play what?" Edward asked.

"Never have I ever," Alice, Rose, and I all answered at the same time. Alice was pouting at me now and so was Edward.

"Come on, love, it'll be fun. I can't wait to learn your dirty little secrets," Edward told me. "I'll even be honest about mine. I bet you'd be surprised at some of my secrets…"

Damn him, now I was intrigued. I sighed, "Fine, Alice, I'm in."

She clapped and started to fill shot glasses as she explained our rules, "Okay you start out like normal. The only difference is, if you shoot you have to explain. If you choose not to explain you have to shoot again and take a dare."

I groaned and said, "Alice, please remember we are in a public place and try to stay away from the triple X dares."

She pouted, but agreed.

"Em, you're first."

"Hmm…" he thought for a minute, "I've never had sex with someone else in the room."

I cringed and quickly shot my shot, noticing I was the only one to do so.

"Well, fuck. I dated this guy James before Jake and I were together and we were at a party one night. We got toasted and slipped off to find a room, and had a quickie against the door. Turns out his _other_ girlfriend was in there watching. I was so pissed I kicked him in the nuts, punched her, and left the party with my lab partner instead. I still don't know what the hell I saw in that guy," I said shaking my head.

Everyone laughed and then it was Rose's turn. "I've never had a crush on a family member's friend or a family member of a friend."

I growled at her and noticed everyone at the table shot. Rose admitted she had a crush on Emmett in high school and so did Alice. That made Em smile goofily. Jasper said he had had a crush on his best friend's sister in high school and both Edward and I refused to explain.

"Hit me with your best dare, Ali," I told her.

She smiled and said, "Well you both get the same dare. You have to do a body shot off of each other."

I nodded it could have been worse. She called a waitress, thankfully not the same one, and requested some limes and salt. When the waitress dropped them off she smirked knowingly at me and winked. _What the fuck? What was that wink for? Oh shit, she knows what we're about to do._ I blushed and smiled at Edward. Here goes nothing.

I got on my knees and picked up the lime. I slipped it into his mouth and he bit it lightly. I leaned in and pulled the collar of his shirt down a little. Then, I licked a trail across his throat. I sprinkled the salt and picked up my shot. I leaned in and slowly licked the salt off of Edward's neck lingering a bit at the taste of his skin, and then I quickly downed the shot. I leaned into get the lime and he raised his head at the exact moment I leaned in and dropped the damn lime. My lips connected with his and I swear I saw fireworks. I pulled back and smiled sheepishly at him. He looked a little dazed and then he smirked at me. _Oh shit. Did he do that on purpose?_ For some reason that made me extremely happy. Oh fuck it. I knew it made me happy because it's what I wanted.

"Your turn, Edward," Em said. "Show little Izzy how to do it properly."

"Okay, Bella I need you to lay back on the bench a little," Edward said.

"Say what?" I asked.

"Trust me, okay?" he asked with that damn dazzling crooked grin.

I nodded and leaned back. He pushed my shirt up to just under my breasts and then rubbed the lime just above my belly button. He sprinkled the salt over the trail of juice and placed the lime between my lips, I felt some of the juice trickled down the corners of my mouth. He poured his shot into my belly button and smiled at me.

I felt Edward's tongue sweep across the line of salt and juice quickly and then I felt him lean in and press his open mouth to my belly button and he sucked up all of the tequila. Then he leaned in and licked the small trail of lime juice off the corner of my mouth and pulled the lime into his own mouth before sucking on it a little and tossing it on the table.

I sat up slowly, my entire body vibrating from the sensations shooting through it. I looked up into four pairs of stunned eyes.

"Geeze, you guys are gonna have me sportin' wood for days if you keep up with shit like that," Jasper said breaking the silence.

We all cracked up and then it was Jasper's turn to go.

"I've never wanted to be tied up and dominated in bed."

Fuck! I drank again and noticed Edward quirking an eyebrow at me. Alice drank also and Jasper shot her the same look Edward shot me.

"Well…In college Bella and I knew this girl who was into BDSM really big and she took us to a munch one night. It looked really interesting," Alice said.

"Yeah, I can honestly say the D/s part of it turned on," I agreed. "Not so much the other parts, but giving up that control sounded very intriguing. I tried to talk to Jake about it, but he looked at me like I was stupid."

It was Alice's turn now. She looked right at me with a huge smirk and said, "I've never fantasized about someone else when I came."

I groaned and shot at the same time Edward did.

We looked at each other and I said, "It was the person I refused to name in my first round."

"Me, too," he said.

My turn now, shit. I hate this. I can never think of anything interesting enough. Suddenly it hit me.

"I've never slept with a professor or a TA," I stated smirking at Alice.

"Damn it, Bella! You so suck," she said as she shot. "It was the TA in my history class my last semester of college. He was so freaking hot. His name was Felix."

It was Edward's turn now.

"I've never been turned on by anyone sitting at this table right now," he said and then he took his shot.

Everyone else took theirs too. Em said Rose, Alice said Jasper, Jasper said Alice, and Rose said Em. At the same time Edward and I said each other's names. I looked at him in shock. He just smiled and leaned back smirking at me. I shook my head and blushed, then leaned into him.

"So, I turn you on, huh, Mr. Masen?" I whispered to him.

He leaned in so close to my ear that his lips were brushing it, and said, "You have no idea how hard it is for me to be respectful right now. I just want to bring you back to my apartment and ravish you, unresolved divorce or not."

Just then I heard a voice behind me that made my blood go cold and my body freeze.

"Hello, Isabella."

_I fucking hate my life!_

**A/N 2: Okay sorry for the minor cliffie! I promise to get the next chapter out lickety split! Any guess on who it may be? Leave me a review and let me know your thoughts!**


	6. Contest Voting is open

**Voting is OPEN!**

**Voting for the Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy contest is now open. You can vote until ****11:59pm PST 3rd October**. Please go to the C2 for the contest to read all the great stories. Vote for your favorite two. You can find the voting on the Fornikation Foundation's profile page. Here is the link to it:

**www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/ u/ 1930799/ FournikationFoundation (remove all spaces and change (dots) to . get it to work!)**

**I hope you vote for me, but well there are some seriously kick ass stories in this contest.**

**Good Luck to all who entered and Thank you so very much to all my reviewers!**

**Chloey**


	7. Dirty Little Secret

**A/N:Okay so here is the long awaited chapter 4! I'm so sorry that I left you hanging with a cliffie like that. I've had this written and was waiting to get it back from my beta, but well she never returned it. So I sent it to readergoof, god bless her! She made the banners for both of my stories, you can see em on twilighted(dot)net, cuz well I have no clue how the hell to put them on my profile here. She beta'd this for me and made it one of my favorites so far! So mad props to her. Thank you a bunch! I hope it was worth the wait for you guys.**

Chapter 4: Dirty Little Secret

Previously:

_Just then I heard a voice behind me that made my blood go cold and my body freeze._

"_Hello, Isabella."_

_I fucking hate my life!_

_____________________________________________________________________________

I felt the blood drain out of my face. My chest started to feel tight and my breath was coming in short gasps. Alice and Rose had identical looks of horror on their faces as they stared at the man in front of us. I slowly turned to face my own personal dirty little secret. Only Alice and Rose knew about him and now, I'd have to explain him to Edward.

"What's wrong, Isabella? Cat got your tongue?"

"A…A…Alec, what are you doing here?" I managed to stutter out.

"Oh, Heidi and I were meeting some friends from the University; I saw you and had to come say hello-I heard about you and Jake. I just wanted to make sure you were alright and apologize if the demise of your marriage had anything to do with what happened between us…" Alec trailed off nervously.

I forced a smile and shook my head, "No, Alec. It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with the woman that Jake fell in love with. Jake is none the wiser and I'd prefer to keep it that way, if you don't mind? It's simply not really in any one's best interests for him to know. I can't be angry at him for leaving me for Leah knowing what I did, but I don't want to give him any ammunition to use against me either."

"Certainly. Heidi knows nothing of that colossally fucked up night either. She'd cut my balls off if she found out. I just wanted to make sure you were holding up ok. I'll leave you all to enjoy your night now," Alec said smiling gently at me.

I dropped my face into my hands and let out a groan before I turned to see the very curious stares of the three men at our table.

"That was so not how I had planned to tell you, Edward. I was going to schedule a meeting in your office to discuss this fucked up situation with you, I swear," I told Edward.

"Why don't you tell me the bare bones and we'll see if it even matters, okay?" Edward asked.

"I'm so ashamed of myself," I murmured taking in a deep breath, "Okay, when I was in my first year of grad school, Alec was my tutor for one of my literature classes. I was having trouble understanding one of the stories we were supposed to writing a major essay on, so I booked a session with him to discuss it. Four hours later I finally started to get a handle on the content of it, and we decided to call it a night.

Jake and Vanessa had gone to visit with his parents for the weekend. I couldn't go because of my classes, so we three," I motioned to myself, Rose, and Alice, "decided to have a girls' night out after my study session. I met up with them at some club and we proceeded to drink ourselves stupid. I ran into Alec and a group of his friends at the bar, and we all started hanging out and drinking together. Alec offered me a ride home and somehow along the way we fell into my bed together. All I really remember is a lot of groping and kissing. I woke up the next morning next to Alec and we were both naked. I was sore, it had been a very long time since Jake and I were intimate, and we figured out we must have had sex. I never told anyone besides Rose and Alice, and only because I was so freaked out. I guess that's why I'm not angrier at Jake for being with Leah."

I looked up to find Edward staring thoughtfully into space. I waited with baited breath for him to speak.

"Jake doesn't know anything about this?" Edward asked.

"No," I replied. "I never let myself be around Alec alone again and he did the same. We both felt incredibly guilty and I was disgusted with myself. I hated having sex with my own husband, and yet, I fell into bed with a virtual stranger. While I was sickened with what I had done, I was elated to know that I still had a damn sex drive at all."

Edward looked at me and grinned, "If Jake doesn't know, then don't worry about it. Even if he does, it will only make a difference if you were asking for alimony, which you aren't. You are only asking for child support, so you should be fine."

I looked up at all three guys and said, "So you guys don't think I'm a slut?"

They all burst into laughter and Emmett said, "Bella, shit happens. You were drunk and you guys had been having problems. Alec is a reasonably attractive man, you're a beautiful woman, shit happens. Just don't let it eat at you. You could never be a slut."

I smile and said a sheepish thanks.

Edward leaned over and whispered into my ear, "Bella, nothing could ever make me think you were a slut or anything bad about you at all. You are one of the most incredible people I have ever met."

I smiled genuinely at him, and then clapped my hands yelling, "Let's dance!"

"Forever" by Chris Brown was blasting in the club as we all made our way down to the dance floor. Edward pulled me close to him snaking his arms around my waist from behind as we swayed to the music. I was enjoying being so wrapped up so close to him when I heard it: a voice I had prayed to god I'd never hear again.

_Why me? Why tonight? Why here? Am I cursed? Who else is going to show up? UGH!_

Rose, Alice, and I stopped dead in our tracks when we heard Mike Newton's voice calling out our names over the music. He strutted, yes fucking strutted, through the crowd, followed by Jessica Stanley, Lauren Mallory, and Tyler Crowley. Mike grinned at us as he got closer.

"Oh, Izzy, I thought that was you. I heard about you and Jake and just wanted to say that if there is _anything_ you need, you can always count on me," Mike said.

I cringed and looked up to find both Jessica and Lauren eyefucking Edward. _Oh hell no! Back off skanks, he's mine!_ Where the FUCK did that come from?

"Izzy, it's so good to see you, Rose, and Alice again. I'm so sorry about you and Jake. I guess not everyone can be as happy as me and Ty, or Jess and Mike," Lauren said in a nasally voice.

"Thanks," I said flatly. "Your concern is dually noted."

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend, Izzy?" Jessica tried to purr while she looked at Edward.

I felt Edward chuckle against my neck as he realized who the men were that were standing in front of us. He leaned in and gently kissed my neck before looking back up at Mike and Tyler with a wicked grin.

"Newton and Crowley, right? We met years ago at a carnival. I'm Edward Masen, this is Emmett Swan, and Jasper Whitlock. We were dating the girls when they were in high school, remember?" Edward prompted.

Mike and Tyler's face lost blood so quickly I thought they were going to pass out. They obviously remembered the guys. Lauren sniffed and said, "Well shit, Izzy, who knew a plain Jane like you could have had a man like that? In high school no less?"

Edward growled and I just smiled, "I guess he's always preferred real women to overly tan in a canned ones with fake breasts, Lauren."

Edward, Emmett, and Jasper cracked up laughing while Lauren fumed. She turned on her heel grabbing a hold of Tyler and Jessica, with Jessica grabbing a hold of Mike, and they stormed off.

"Priceless! That was fucking priceless, Bella!" Rose crowed with glee. "Where did all that courage come from?"

"I don't fucking know, but I do know I'm done letting bitches like them put me down. I'm a fucking grown woman. I have a great kid! I'm fairly attractive, smart, and make twice as much as those whores do. I may be single, but I'm hoping to change that in the near future. So fuck them all!" I exclaimed as I glanced at Edward.

He had a dopey looking smile on his face and said, "Hear, hear!"

"Alright, I've had enough of this shithole, let's get the fuck outta here!" Emmett shouted.

We all murmured our assent and made our way towards the doors.

Once outside none of us wanted the night to end so I suggested grabbing a pizza and converging on my place, which was closest to watch some movies. Rose and Alice decided to hitch a ride with Jasper and Emmett to secure the movies, and Edward offered to give me a ride to my place so I could order the pizza. We all started for the parking lot and I stopped short when I saw the Ducati sitting next to Emmett's monster Jeep. Edward was climbing on and pulling on a helmet when he noticed me standing there just staring at him. He was fucking hot sitting astride the massive motorcycle and all I wanted to do was jump him. He smiled crookedly at me before handing me a helmet. I smirked, shrugged, and climbed on behind him after putting it on.

"Have you ever ridden on a bike before?" Edward asked me.

"No. I've always wanted to, but never really had the opportunity. My dad wouldn't let me and then Jake just about shit a brick when his best friend offered to take out for a spin on one," I told him.

"Well then," he said as he kicked the bike to life, "you better hold on tight spider monkey. You're in for the ride of your life."

I wasn't sure if he meant on the bike or in general, but for once in my life I just didn't care. I wanted to see where the hell this thing that was palpable between us was going and just let myself be happy for once. I wrapped my arms around him squeezing tightly when he took off, burning rubber out of the parking lot.

We reached my house in what seemed like no time at all, and I reluctantly let go of Edward to get off the bike. He secured both helmets to the bike and followed me to my front door. Once we entered I started for the kitchen where my phone was. Edward followed behind me silently. I flipped on the kitchen lights and smiled at his expression as he took in my kitchen.

"I've always loved to cook, so when we were looking for a house I made sure to find a kitchen that was very close to what I had always wanted. Once we closed on it, I renovated it to the professional one we're standing in," I told Edward.

"Well, I expected a pro-kitchen from a chef, but this is amazing. My aunt would flip out if she saw your kitchen. Who did you use to decorate it?" he asked me.

"Esme Cullen. I met her when she and her husband Carlisle came into the restaurant to eat lunch. She liked the food so much that she wanted me to cater some big event her firm was having. I agreed, fell in love with her designs, and asked her to redo my place. She redecorated it two months after Jake and I split. I needed a change. I hated his ideas in here so she did it how I had originally wanted it before Jake's temper tantrum," I answered.

Edward threw his head back and laughed when I finished. I looked at him quizzically because absolutely none of that was funny. I cocked an eyebrow at him and he managed to get his laughter under control.

"Sorry, it's just that Esme and Carlisle are my aunt and uncle. Carlisle is my mom's brother. I guess I should have realized that she was the one who decorated. It has her fingerprints all over it," he told me.

I smiled and then proceeded to order the pizza. I hung the phone up and slipped my jacket off tossing it over the back of the kitchen chair. I made my way over the wine rack and pulled out a bottle. I pulled out two glasses and raised them at Edward who nodded his agreement. I poured us each a glass and walked back to the island handing him his. We sipped quietly for a few minutes, until I felt his eyes on me. I looked up and jumped at how close he was. He silently took my glass setting it on the counter behind me next to his. Then he placed his hands on either side of me effectively trapping me between himself and the counter. He continued to stare into my eyes as he moved closer to me.

"Isabella," he said, his voice a husky whisper, "you have no idea what you do to me. As soon as this damn divorce is final, I plan on showing you all night long what exactly has been running through my head tonight."

I swallowed hard and looked at him through my lashes, "Well, I guess I can wait that long, but Edward, you aren't the only one who's had naughty thoughts running through their head all night. I've ten years worth of fantasies stored in my head and you're their star."

At that he growled, pushing me further into the counter. He was pressed so close I could feel his arousal which only served to heighten my own. He dipped his head down so that he could run his nose up from my neck to my ear, and leaning in closer whispered, "Bella, I can promise you I'll make those…"

He never got finish what he was saying because we heard a loud burst of clapping and cheering coming from the door. Some how we had missed the group coming in and now they were all standing in my kitchen shooting us knowing smirks.

**A/N 2: Okay at the moment I'm going into hiding. I know it's completely not what or who you thought it would be right? I wanted it that way. I wanted to show that Bella is human too. Everyone is blaming Jake for the divorce, and while he is the one who left her and is a huge asshole for his current actions, it takes two to make a marriage fail or a marriage work. Bella is human, and she has made mistakes. THis is one of them and as you can see she feels horrible about it. So hit that little button at the bottom and leave me a review...Even if you must throw bad veggies at me for this chapter.**

**Before I forget, I need to see your cheesiest and/or raunchiest pick up lines you have ever heard. THere is a purpose to this and it will be revealed all in good time. I swear. So send those along with your review...**


	8. RESPECT

**A/N: Hey all! SO sorry for a late update! I had to resend this to my wonderful Beta twice because I rewrote it a bit. I know everyone is anxious to get to some sexy Bella and Edward lemons, but bear with me. THey have a bit of a way to go before there is any sexing. I know things seem to be moving kind of fast, but the next chapter will sort out a few things. There will be a mini-"TALK" between our love birds. Nothing too serious, but it needs to happen. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Special thanks to my wonderful BETA Whitlocked for all her fantabulous input. She's given me quite a bit to consider for this story!**

**Also, special thanks must go out to TMR who pointed out something very serious that I'd like to mention here: In the last chatper everyone proceeded to drive after drinking. In no way whatsoever do I condone it, in fact I had made the girls catch a cab to the club for that very reason, however, I completely blanked on that and had them getting into vehicles and behind the wheel. DO NOT DO THIS!!! Sorry about that and I hope I didn't offend anyone with the actions. Blame it on lack of sleep and two rambunctious little girls!**

**Diclaimer: As much as I wish I owned these characters, sadly, they belong to S.M. I do however own the plot. Enjoy!**

Chapter 5: R.E.S.P.E.C.T

I felt my cheeks getting hot at the idea of being caught, but decided to embrace my new found confidence by saying, "I hope you fuckers enjoyed the show. The pizza will be here soon so shut the hell up and let's get ready to eat."

Alice and Rose busted out laughing and shook their heads. Emmett and Jasper just smiled, but Edward said, "You guys have got the worst fucking timing. I swear you have like built in radar to show up when and where cockblocking should occur."

"Now, Edward, just because you're frustrated that you couldn't take Bella on the counter, doesn't mean you can be a dick," Jasper said.

"Enough! No more, or I may pee in my pants from laughing so much," Alice managed to get out between giggles.

Just then the doorbell rang and I silently made my way over to answer it. Edward followed behind me and bumped me gently out of the way with his hip.

"I've got this, you go set up the movie, Bella," he said.

Who am I to argue? The man wants to pay for the pizza, I'll let him. I made my way to the family room and picked up the movies to flip through them. The titles made me want to crawl in my bed with my head under the covers: _Freddy vs. Jason, Halloween, _and _Texas Chainsaw Massacre._

_Who the fuck picked these out?_

"Umm…guys," I said, "not to be a bitch or anything, but what asshole decided to get the scariest and most gory movies they had?"

Emmett raised his hand and grinned at me, "I figured I'd give you a reason to curl up on Eddie-boy's lap, Bells. I know how much you _love_ scary movies. However, Eddie-boy, I want you to keep those hands where I can see em. I've seen enough of you two having a foreplay session already tonight. If I see anymore, I just may go Norman Bates on your ass!"

"Uncle Em, seriously? What the fuck? You know I'm gonna have nightmares for a month if I watch this shit right?" Sometimes I seriously question my uncle's sanity.

"What's wrong, amore? I'll be here to protect you from the scary men," Edward teased.

"Yeah, tonight you will, but for the next few days? Not so much. I hate you all. Which one of these twisted shits do you guys want to watch?" I asked.

We decided to watch _Freddy vs. Jason_, after we ate our pizza. I flat out refused to eat and watch those two slashers go after people at the same time. Once we were done we settled into our seats. I was sitting with Edward on the love seat, Emmett and Rose were next to each other on the couch, and Alice and Jasper were wrapped up in each other on the overstuffed chair. We started the movie and Edward pulled me up to readjust our positions. He sat down with one leg stretched along the seat and one foot flat on the floor. He pulled me down in between his legs and I rested my head on his chest. His hands rubbed soothing circles on my back and I nuzzled into his chest and passed out shortly after.

I woke the next morning still wrapped in Edward's arms and smiled to myself. I could actually see myself waking up in his arms every morning for the rest of my life. I glanced up at him to see he was still sleeping. I surreptitiously breathed him in, the man smelled freaking amazing: a spicy blend of natural maleness, Burberry cologne, and something I couldn't quite place my finger on.

I felt his chest vibrating underneath my head and looked up at him. He grinned at me and leaned in to whisper, "Did you just sniff me, Isabella?"

I blushed and said, "I can't help it. You smell amazing."

"So do you, mia bella amore. All feminine and flirty. I adore it," he told me.

I smiled and stood up to stretch. Sleeping on a loveseat with another person is a pain in the back, literally. I grinned as I glanced at the other four people sprawled on my furniture. I pointed to the stairs and said, "I'm gonna go change and I'll be back in just a minute. The other bathroom is down the hall past the stairs. Feel free to use it and get these guys up please? I want to cook us all breakfast before I head out to go get Nessa."

Edward nodded and I headed up the stairs to my room. I dug through my closet and pulled out a pair of faded comfy jeans and a black t-shirt. I pulled them on and tugged my hair into a low ponytail before making my way back downstairs. I entered my kitchen to find Edward had started coffee and was pouring cups for everyone. He handed me one and I added sugar and milk before taking a huge gulp. I pulled out the fixings for omelets and sausage. Edward smiled at me and grabbed a knife out of the block before starting to cut up the vegetables for the omelets.

Once breakfast was cooked we all sat down at the table to eat. Listening to the guys, you'd think they had never had a home cooked meal before. They were all groaning and moaning and complimenting their omelets.

"Oh my god, Bella, I think my mouth just had an orgasm. These omelets are fucking amazing. I think I'd forgo sex if I could have one of these everyday!" Jasper exclaimed.

"Well, I wouldn't give up sex, but they are pretty damn good. I'm may settle for only receiving oral sex or something for these everyday," Alice said.

"Eww! Enough! This one is like my little sister, I so don't want to hear about her having sex!" Emmett barked, waving his hand at Alice.

Everyone burst into laughter at that.

I grinned at them and said, "Well, what else do you expect from a gourmet chef?"

Once we were done eating and put the dishes into the dishwasher, the guys decided to head out. We walked them to the door and everyone exchanged numbers. Edward pulled me into a hug and kissed me softly on my forehead promising to call later in the week.

Once the guys had gotten into their vehicles I shut the door and turned to my friends. We all looked at each other for a second before we erupted in a high pitched squeal and then we were talking over each other.

"Oh my god, Bella, I have never seen you act the way you did last night!" Rose yelled.

"I'm so excited, and last night was just amazing. Bella, I just know you and Edward will actually fall in love," Alice said.

"Holy Shit! I spent the night with Edward Masen! IN HIS ARMS! My inner teenager is beside herself right now!" I yelled.

"Bella, I don't know what got into you last night, but we saw a side of you we haven't seen since you got together with Jake. It was like you were a whole new woman. You were so confident and self-assured," Rose said.

"I know, being around Edward apparently makes me feel that way. I have no doubts about the fact that he truly does like me. It kind of baffles me, because he's so much older than me, but my mom always said I was more mature than any one else she knew," I said.

Our conversation was interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving now. I might bring Rose and Ali with me."

"Okay, see you guys in just a bit."

"Jake, I take it?" Alice asked.

I nodded and said, "Do you ladies feel like riding to P.A. with me to pick up Nessa?"

They nodded and headed upstairs to change. Twenty minutes later we were on our way.

I pulled up to the bookstore where Jake and I usually met and spied his old pick-up truck. We headed inside and what I saw made my blood boil. Jake and Leah were locked in a steamy embrace and our daughter was nowhere to be found.

I took a moment to study the woman that my husband had fallen so completely for. She was quite pretty with bronzed skin, long brown hair, and curves in all the right places. She was dressed to kill in a short black mini-skirt and fire red halter top with stilettos on that made her already tall frame only one or two inches shorter than Jake.

I marched up to them and yanked Leah off of Jake by her arm.

She glared at me and snarled, "What the fuck do you think you are doing?"

I shot her a glare and then turned my fury on my soon-to-be-ex-husband, "What the fuck Jake? Where the hell is our daughter?"

Jake looked around and realized Nessa was nowhere in sight. His face drained of color and he shook his head.

"She was right here just a minute ago, Bells. I swear," he said.

We decided to split up and look around the large bookstore for her. I finally found her by the model train set. It was obvious she had been crying: her face was red, her eyes were glassy with unshed tears, and she had her knees pulled up to her chest. I whistled our special whistle to alert her that I was there and she looked up at me and ran into my arms.

I pulled her to me tightly and she started sobbing. I silently rubbed her back and just held her until the tears subsided. Then, I texted Jake, Rose, and Alice to let them know I had found her and where to meet us at. Once her tears were stopped I wiped them from her cheeks with my thumbs and kissed her forehead.

"Sweetie, why did you run from daddy and Ms. Leah? I was so scared when I couldn't find you. What's going on, my angel?" I asked her.

"Mommy, I'm sorry. I was so mad at Ms. Leah. I asked her why you and daddy couldn't be married no more, and she told me that it was cuz she was gonna be daddy's new wife and my new mommy. I don't want a new mommy. I just want you. Don't you love me anymore mommy?" She asked in a small voice.

"Of course, I still want you, baby! You're my whole heart. I could never not want you. Ms. Leah will never be your new mommy. She'll be your step-mom if she marries daddy, but I will ALWAYS be your mommy," I told her. I was struggling to keep the rage at Leah out of my voice so I wouldn't frighten Nessa or make her think I was angry with her.

"Do you promise, mommy?" she asked.

"I promise, sweetie," I said. I looked up to find Alice and Rose standing there looking furious.

"Bella, why don't you go find Jake, while Rose and I play with Nessa. Is that okay, Nessa?" Alice asked.

Vanessa nodded and slid off of my lap to join Alice at the train set. I promised to return shortly and made my way over to where I could hear Jake and Leah talking. I felt my rage build the closer I got to the two of them. I couldn't believe that whore had told my daughter that she was going to be her new mommy. I walked up to them and shoved Leah into the rack of books.

"Let me tell you something, you home wrecking bitch! You can have Jake, I don't give a shit, but don't ever, ever, tell my child that you will be her new mommy. She already has one, me! If I ever hear you've said something like that to her again, I will cut you," I yelled at her. I rounded on Jake and said, "You need to make sure that the people you hang out with have a little more respect for your ties to me Jake. I found Nessa still in sobs and she asked me if I didn't love her anymore, because Leah told her she was getting a new mommy. If it happens again, I will have you in court so fast that your head will spin, got it?"

Leah rolled her eyes and huffed indignantly at my words, "Yeah, sure, Isabella, whatever you fucking say."

"Is that a threat, Isabella?" Jake asked me coldly while Leah smirked gleefully at me.

"No, you fucker, it's a promise. I'll make sure you only get supervised visitation if this happens again. Understand?" I demanded.

Jake nodded his head and apologized for Leah's actions. We made our way back over to Vanessa, Rose, and Alice. Once we had said our goodbyes we headed for home.

Once we reached home, I fixed some grilled cheese sandwiches for Nessa, myself, Alice, and Rose. We ate dinner and then settled into the living room to watch _Beauty and the Beast_ with Nessa. Poor Nessa was so tired from all the excitement of the day that she fell soundly asleep before Gaston started singing about killing the beast. I tucked her into bed and headed back downstairs to talk to Alice and Rose. I needed to get their advice about the Edward situation.

"Hey, guys, can I pick your brains for a few minutes?" I asked my friends.

They both nodded their heads and Alice said, "What's up, Buttercup?"

"Well…" I hesitated, "I wanted to talk to you about Edward, actually. I need some advice. I'm so out of practice that I'm not sure what the hell I am doing," I said.

"Okay," Rose started, "first things first. How do you feel about him, Bella?"

"Obviously, I really like him. I'm just not sure if it's left over school-girl crush feelings or if it's more. I'd like to see where it goes, but I don't want to introduce him to Nessa until I feel like it's really going somewhere," I said.

"Well that sounds reasonable to me. What exactly do you want to get out a relationship with Edward?" Alice asked.

"I'd like to think long term. I can see myself with him in twenty years and still feel happy by that thought and not trapped like I felt with Jake. He's incredible. He's good-looking, smart, has a great job, and a charming personality. Most importantly in my book is that he makes me feel confident in myself. Like with the waitress and Lauren last night. I never would have done those things when I was with Jake. He makes me feel like the person I always wanted to be. I'm just afraid that all he wants is the physical and while I'm positive it would be phenomenal; I want it all with him. He has the potential to crush me though, and that terrifies me," I said honestly.

"I think you need to get together with Edward and talk to him about all of this. You need to see how he feels before involving yourself anymore, sweetie. I personally think he wants it all with you, too. He never took his eyes off of you last night, and the way you two are together is amazing. It's like you've know each other for years, but you do have Nessa to think about. Just talk to him," Rose said.

"Thanks you guys, I'll call him tomorrow and see when we can meet," I replied.

I felt hopeful that things were looking up for me for the first time in a very long time.

**A/N 2: So how was it? We saw how our Bella is feeling, now we just to need to get inside Eddie's mind...So here's the deal, review and if I can get at least 50 for this chapter I'll recap all the action so far in Edward's POV....YOu know you all want to know what our dear Eddie is thinking, so hit that little green button!**


	9. Special EPOV

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you all enjoy this special chapter. I'm sorry it took a bit, I had to revise some. Edward was being stubborn. Special thanks to Whitlocked for being a kick ass beat. She really helps me to organize these things..**

**Disclaimer:I do not own Twilight or its characters, I just like to play with them.**

Special Chapter: In Eddie's Head

I groaned and rolled over slapping at my alarm clock. I opened one bleary eye and pulled myself to a sitting position. I seriously didn't feel like going to work today. I had hung out in the living room with my roommates and best friends, Japer Whitlock and Emmett Swan. Emmett had just returned from some job in who knows where and wanted some quality "guy time" as he called it. Guy time consisted of hours of playing Halo (yeah I know we're thirty-six, but what else are we going to do?) and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. I fell into bed sometime around four am and now was getting up at eight. I knew that I'd have a full schedule today at the office and dreaded having to go deal with listening to some of my clients. I usually loved my job, but some of the people who came into file a divorce were whiny bitches and wanted nothing more than to take some man for everything he had. I drug myself out of bed and made my way sleepily to the shower turning the water as hot as I could get it. I spent about thirty minutes in the shower letting the steam and heat wake me little by little. Once I was done and dressed for the day I headed to my office.

When I arrived at Masen and Associates, I couldn't help but smile. I had always wanted to open my own firm and now it was a reality. I headed into the office and stopped to speak with my secretary, Angela Webber. She was a quiet and sweet girl who always had a smile for everyone, including the more whiny clients.

I smiled at her and said, "Good morning, Angela. What's on schedule today?"

She smiled back and said, "You have one court appearance to finalize the Volturi divorce and then a consultation with a new client. Her name is Isabella Black. Apparently, her husband was having an affair and she's coming into file for divorce. I'm wondering if it isn't my friend from high school, because her husband's last name is Black. Her name is Isabella, though her maiden name is Swan."

I damn near spit my coffee out when she said that. If this was the same Isabella Swan that I knew, she was Emmett's niece and had been the star of many of my own personal fantasies over the last ten years. That thought immediately made feel like a pervert since when I had met her she was only sixteen, but she was beautiful even then. She was also very intelligent, witty, and humble.

I thanked Angela and made my way to prep for court. The day seemed to drag on for ages, and by the time I returned to my office having accomplished next to nothing, I was furious. My client was a sweet woman with two kids whose ex-husband was a real deadbeat and an abuser. He was refusing to pay child support and claimed that she was an unfit mother. He had failed to show up for court once again, and was only helping to strengthen my case, but each time he failed to show up it made it that much longer that my client had to go without her children. They had been placed with a family member until this mess was over due to the husband. I had almost forgotten that my next client may have been the girl of my dreams when I heard a knock on my door and Angela entered.

Following behind her was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. She was petite, about 5'4", and had curves in all the right places. Her eyes were a deep chocolate and her hair a rich mahogany. The outfit she was wearing, while pretty casual, was enough to cause my groin to tighten. Her shirt was a tight white tee with a Rolling Stones cover on it and her pants were faded and clung nicely to her hips and ass. Speaking of her ass, I really wanted to take a bite out of it. I could still see a hint of the sixteen-year-old Izzy underneath, but she had certainly grown into herself. I decided to tease her a bit and see how well she remembered me.

"Well, well, well. Little Izzy. I can't believe that it's actually you," I said as I rose from my desk.

"In the flesh, boyfriend," she said teasingly, "I can't believe no one told me you were a divorce lawyer, Edward."

I gave her a brief hug before we both took our seats.

Once we were seated I said, "So, Izzy, tell me what brings you to my office."

"Well, Jake and I were married for six years. We have a five year old daughter named Vanessa. He recently has been taking a lot of trips home to see his parents, which isn't really strange, but about six months ago the day before his birthday he went for a visit. I called to tell him happy birthday and he told me he wanted a divorce. I was shocked and devastated at first, but now I'm really relieved and pretty angry. I asked him why and he refused to give me a straight answer so I hacked into his myspace account and found pictures of him and some woman. They were having an affair. So, here I am," she said.

I was shocked and pissed off at what the asshole had done to her and for a moment I'm positive my emotions showed in my eyes. I struggled to present her a smile. I wanted to reassure her that I would take care of her without scaring her, so I settled for teasing.

"So, girlfriend, I'm sorry about your impending divorce, but you're in good hands with me. Now that business is out of the way how about we move onto the pleasure part of the day? Me, Jazz, and Emmett are getting together tonight, how about you meet us at the bar, Eclipse?" I asked.

"Sure, Vanessa is with Jake for the week so I have nothing to do tonight anyways. Can I bring some friends who I know are just dying to see my uncle?" she asked.

I laughed and told her to bring Alice and Rose, as it would make Jazz and Emmett's day.

I was delighted to discover that it was indeed little Izzy, but I was furious again that someone could have done that to her. When she left I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I couldn't wait to get to that bar tonight. I thought back to the day I had first met her. She was a knock out even then. I knew I was attracted to her, but tried to pretend that I only saw her as Emmett did. At twenty-six, I couldn't do anything about the attraction. Now at thirty-six, the attraction was even stronger. That was an odd feeling. I had never experienced attraction like that before. I shook off my thoughts and forced myself to concentrate on starting her petitions.

Once I was done for the day, I headed home. Emmett and Jasper were sitting on the couch scarfing down hotdogs when I entered the apartment. I immediately rounded on Emmett.

"So, Em, you'll never guess who I saw today," I told him.

"Who? Was it a girl? Was she hot?" Emmett questioned.

"Yes, it was a girl. I certainly think she's hot, but fervently hope you don't. That would be illegal and I'm not qualified to handle those types of cases, Em," I replied.

He just looked at me dumbfounded for a moment before I took pity on him.

"Izzy. I saw Izzy today. I invited her and her friends to meet us tonight at Eclipse," I told him.

"Izzy? Where did you see her at…Fuck!" he swore.

"What? What's wrong, Em?" I asked.

"I completely forgot she's divorcing that douche she was married to. She's your client isn't she?" he asked.

I nodded my head, "Yeah, but I can't discuss anything about the case. She said her, Rose, and Alice would meet us at the club at 9:30 tonight."

"Rose?" Emmett yelped at the same time Jasper choked out "Alice?"

"Umm, yeah. They are her best friends. Why? What difference does it…?" I trailed off before laughing as the realization struck me, "You two are totally hot for the friends. Wow, I wish I had known this before, Rose was a client when she divorced that asshole Royce, I'd have invited them out before now."

Even if she was married at the time it would have been nice to see Izzy again. I smiled to myself as I made my way to my room to shower and dress for the evening. I turned the water on as hot as I could stand it and stepped into the spray. I couldn't help but let my thoughts turn to Izzy. I tried to shut them out, but it was no use and I wound up having to a have a quick session with my old friend, my right hand, before I could even attempt to get dressed.

The night out was a lot of fun and incredibly hot. I swear Bella, as she now preferred to be called, was trying to kill me. It was like she knew how hot she made me and at every turn was trying to egg my libido on, starting with that ballsy move with the waitress. I remembered pretending to be her boyfriend in front of those little fuckers who were chasing them at a fair we went to when she was sixteen, and realized what she meant by returning the favor. In actuality, she did a whole lot more than that and I had to readjust Little Eddie under the table. The entire game of twenty questions made my head spin and the damn body shots damn near had me throwing her down on the table and just slamming into her. Once we left the club, I had to face having her wrapped around me on my bike and damn near had my dick bursting through my zipper. I really didn't want her to think it was all about sex because I actually liked her, a lot. She had morphed into a confident and completely sexy woman. It was incredibly hot seeing her tell off that plastic bimbo while we were dancing and even more hot to know that she had fantasized about me for as long as I had about her.

Despite the fact that last night was great and waking up with her was amazing, I wanted to take things slowly with her. I wanted to take her on dates and do all the silly 'get to know you' things people did when they were starting out. I want to discover things about Bella the woman, and see how much she was still like the Izzy I had known. I felt like I had known her forever, and in actuality I had known her for awhile. However, we still had things we needed to learn about each other. She knew Edward, the playboy; not Edward, the man. I won't deny that I am incredibly sexually attracted to her, but I feel like I could make a go at it long term with her. I hadn't felt that way about anyone, including my psycho ex-wife.

After we had left Bella's the morning after our night out at Eclipse, Emmett, Jasper, and I stopped at Starbucks to get coffees. We were sitting there in silence until I glanced up at them and we all burst out laughing.

"Holy fuck, dudes. I can't believe we just spent the night with those girls. I honestly felt like I was twenty-six again. Boy they sure have grown up," Emmett said.

"Yeah, well I'm glad I was able to spend time with the little pixie," Jasper said smiling.

"I know I had a great time, too," I replied.

Emmett rolled his eyes and said, "Eddie, we all know you had a fantastic time. I had to watch you mac on my niece all damn night. You're lucky I think of you like a brother. Not to mention, I haven't seen Bella smile like that in almost six years."

"Emmett, dude, I just can't help it. She's even more amazing now than she was when I met her. Now though I'm actually in a position to do something about it. Well, once the divorce is over. I can see myself falling in love with her, Em," I told him sincerely.

He smiled at me and said, "I can see that, bro. I'm warning you now though, if you fuck her over or hurt her in anyway, I will end you. She's got enough to deal with. I have to say though; it doesn't surprise me that she likes you. She's always had a thing for you. She used to ask me about you constantly. I could never bring myself to tell her you had married that shrew, but I could see she still harbored a bit of a crush. If things work out for you guys, I'll be really happy. You two really are perfect for each other. Now, did you boys see how smoking hot little Rosie has gotten?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Em, she is perfect for you, but just be careful with her. She's had to deal with a lot of shit. It hasn't been easy for her either."

He nodded and said, "I know all about that dick of an ex-husband of hers. I could have killed that fucker when I found out he was beating on Rosie. I'm the one who recommended your office to her. Well, to my mom who told her mom. I really like Rosie. Not only is she smoking hot, she speaks car and is totally able to kick my ass, which is saying something."

I noticed Jasper had been really quiet during our conversation and looked up at him to find him staring dreamily out the window. I nudged Emmett with my foot and inclined my head towards Jasper. Emmett threw a napkin at him and he jumped ten feet in the air. He smiled sheepishly at us and shrugged.

"Sorry, I was off in dream land. I just can't stop thinking about Alice. That pixie has cast some kind of spell over me, I tell you," he said in a very serious tone.

Emmett and I broke out into a fit of laughter. When we were done, Jasper had a shit eating grin on his face.

"Boys, I think I've met my soul mate. I do believe I'm fallin' in love with little Miss Alice!" He declared.

Emmett and I exchanged looks and for once I was thinking, _I know exactly how you feel, Jasper my man._

I knew exactly what I was going to do. I was going to pursue Bella Swan. I would marry that woman someday. Come hell or high water, I was going to convince her to give me a shot.

**A/N 2: Review! I may do one of these every so often, but only if it's warranted at a certain part of the story, I won't do it just for the hell of it. The next chappie is in the works and should be out soon!**


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